Bus Rapid Transit in the People's Republic of China

The People’s Republic of China (PRC) has been experiencing transport-related problems due to the high volume of vehicles plying its cities. This is compounded by local transport systems beset with capacity, parking, space, and design issues.

Thus, PRC slowly shifted its transport policies towards a more sustainable direction, one that favors urban public transport, and discourages the use of cars. It has recently begun to build and develop Bus Rapid Transit Systems (BRT) in many of its cities as a concrete application of this shift in policy. However, many of the BRTs had design flaws which heavily affected their performance. Stations were designed poorly and their buses had limited capacity and potential for expansion. These issues have become learning blocks upon which a new high capacity BRT was built. Called the Guangzhou BRT, it is a transit system that connects existing metro systems, provides city-wide mobility, and reduces the number of buses in the city as well as oil and energy consumption.

The experience in Guangzhou illustrates the advantages of a well-designed BRT system. Building BRTs is quick and costs ten times less than railway systems. Moreover, it ferries more passengers within a shorter travel time, helping reduce energy and oil consumption. With modern BRTs such as the Guangzhou BRT, cities can save money, time and ultimately, the environment.